The present invention relates to a method of assembling a visor. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for assembling a high-quality, cloth covered visor with a partial headband which does not completely encircle the head.
Among the wide variety of products manufactured by hatters and millineries is a variety of a cap known as a visor. A visor can broadly be described as an open-headed cap with a bill. Visors have long been desirable for certain wearers because the lack of covering along the top of the head makes them lighter, cooler, and more comfortable than most caps.
Among visors, several varieties are known to exist in the art. Most of those which exist employ a feature found in most hats: a hatband. The hatband completely encircles the head and holds the visor in place by pressure at all points along the circumference of the head of a person. However, this feature is found to be too restrictive and uncomfortable for some hat wearers. In particular, a hatband which completely encircles the head is disfavored because it must be worn on top of the hair of a person. For persons with longer hair, especially women, this has the deleterious effect of causing the hair to mat down and leave a ring around the persons head when the visor is removed.
In order to simultaneously obtain all the advantages of an open, comfortable, light-weight visor which does not mess up a person's hair, it has been known in the art by some manufacturers of which the Applicant is aware to produce a visor which uses a partial hatband or headband instead of one completely encircling the head. However, all manufacturers of this variation of visor of which the Applicant is aware manufacture a plastic one-piece visor, which is considered of lesser quality and more uncomfortable than cloth hats. The partial headband can be made in several ways. First, it can be manufactured in a configuration similar to that of an ear piece of a pair of glasses i.e., holding the visor in place by resting on top of the ears. A second, and preferred variation, provides for a semi-rigid, semi-circular headband. The side members of the partial headband are made of a sufficiently rigid material so that they engage the front, sides and portions of the back part of the head to hold the visor in place. For persons with longer hair, the ear piece design and the semi-circular design can be placed underneath the hair so as not to mat it down. As stated, as far as is known, all currently available visors using the partial headbands are molded as a single piece of plastic. However, plastic is undesirable because it is a less comfortable material to be worn next to the skin. It has long been known that cloth or leather are more desirable substances from which to manufacture headwear because of their softer and more porous nature. However, cloth or leather visors cannot be molded from a single piece and still adequately grip the head or maintain the desired shape.
Applicant is not aware of any known method for manufacturing a durable, high-quality cloth visor with a partial headband. The present method for quickly and efficiently assembling such visors is very different from the assembly method for caps and other forms of headwear, because a cap or hat which completely covers the head is essentially a continuous piece of material joined together in a manner which gives the material a shape for fitting a person's head. For example, a hat made of straw or an animal pelt starts as a solid piece of material. The material is then stretched and formed by heat or other methods to form a bulge or "crown" in the center of the material. The crown envelopes the wearer's head, and the remainder of the material forms the brim. The circumference of the crown will be kept constant by attaching a hatband to the interior or exterior of the crown. For most caps, the crown will be formed from a separate piece of material and will be fixed by a headband. The cap crown will then be attached to a separate piece of material which has already been shaped to form a bill or brim.
Thus, the manufacturer of most hats and caps requires only one or two major steps to assemble the major structural part of the headwear. More importantly, the assembly can be completed fairly easily with all seams on the inside of the cap or hat. It is a practical necessity that any seams be hidden from the exterior for two reasons. First, the seams are unsightly and difficult to incorporate into the exterior design of the hat or cap. Second, exterior seams are more exposed to elements which could snag, tear or unravel the seams. It is relatively simple to assemble a cap with all seams facing the inside of the cap, and in fact, the crown, headband, and bill can be joined together in one step by sewing the headband on top of the bill and to the crown. This method results in all seams being hidden underneath the headband.
For a visor which completely encircles the head, the assembly method is equally as simple as for most hats and caps. One may essentially dispense with the piece of material forming the crown because there is no crown on a visor. Thus, the headband can be attached directly to the bill of the visor and the major structural elements of the visor are assembled with the seam being hidden underneath the headband.
For a visor which does not completely encircle the head, particular difficulties in assembly arise when it is desired to obtain a visor with hidden seams. To manufacture a cloth covered visor of this type, it is necessary to cover a fairly rigid material with cloth and attach a bill in order to assemble the major elements. The fairly rigid material is used to form the backbone of the partial headband, but it must be softened by a cloth covering in order to maintain comfort. On the other hand, full headbands do not necessarily require a softening agent as a covering, because these bands can rely on their ability to completely encircle and grip the head as sufficient support for the bill or brim. In other words, a full headband can be made solely of cloth or any other comfortable material, but will still be adequate support for the visor bill if the circumference of the cloth headband is small enough. But a partial headband made solely of cloth would not perform adequately and does not have enought rigidity to press against the sides of the head with adequate force to prevent the weight of the visor bill from causing the partial headband to slip. This necessitates the use of a semi-rigid material as a backbone for the partial headband. As mentioned, the material used for partial headbands by some manufacturers is plastic when the visors are molded of a single piece of plastic. However, plastic is uncomfortable next to the skin and is unattractive to users desiring a high-quality visor. Therefore, the problem faced and solved by the present invention is providing a method for covering a semi-rigid material in a partial headband with cloth and attaching the completed partial headband to a visor bill, but ensuring that these major structural elements form a comfortable, durable and attractive visor with no exposed seams.
In order to overcome the disadvantages mentioned above, the Applicant has invented a new and useful visor, and method for assembling the same, which produces a high-quality, durable and attractive cloth visor which does not have a headband which completely encircles the head. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to produce durable, high-quality cloth visors which are comfortable to the wearer. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to produce visors which do not cause the hair to mat down. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to produce visors which may be assembled rapidly. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to produce a visor which has the majority of its seams tucked or hidden from the exterior of the visor. Other objects of the invention will become evident as the invention is explained.